Meaty offerings should stick to your ribs

Open at last after months of anticipation, the hard-to-find Cook Shack BarBQ -- on Trueman Boulevard west of Mill Run and east of I-270 -- represents the latest entry in the barbecue boomlet.

The enterprise, owned and operated by central Ohioans, has a decor that seeks to re-create a barbecue shack with sheets of galvanized steel and similar accents.

Diners order in a cafeteria-style food line.

The first station is the unusual (for a barbecue joint) "salad adventure": For $7.99, you get a large salad of decent greens topped with your selections from among more than a dozen items. The dressings, alas, are simply those in the Marzetti lineup -- many of which contain high-fructose corn syrup.

The all-important ribs ($10.99 for a half-rack) are reasonably lean, well-smoked and firmly fleshed. They aren't the fall-off-the-bone type. The result is a baconlike smokiness and a reassuring texture.

Separating the ribs has to be done mostly by hand; the pliable plastic utensils simply don't cut it -- literally.

Ditto with the smoked chicken ($5.99 for half a bird), which, unlike the ribs, can't be torn into pieces. Like the ribs, it isn't cooked until the meat falls off. It is firm, moist as barbecued chicken goes and smoked throughout. What isn't throughout is flavor from the spicy rub on the skin.

For anything like that, you'll have to reach for one of the three sauces on each table: One is vinegary; another, sweet and dark; and the third, mustard-yellow.

The beef brisket ($5.99 as a sandwich) is trimmed lean, well-textured and mildly barbecued. It, too, is a candidate for experimentation with the three sauces -- especially the vinegar.

The pulled-pork sandwich ($5.29) is a winner. The pork looks and tastes as if pulled from a barbecued critter (instead of being shredded, then tossed with barbecue sauce). The degree of smoke is ideal, and the pork tastes good on its own or with the vinegary hot sauce.

All sides ($1.69 each or $2.49 for two) are optional. The house-cut potato chips are crisp and fairly neutral; the collard greens have a slightly tart-yet-sweet seasoning with occasional chunks of pork. The fine-cut sweet-vinegar slaw is less rich than most others.

The beer and wine selections are small but at least there.

Cook Shack is off to a promising start in an area underserved by barbecue restaurants.